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Virginia Anne Phillips (née Ettinger; born February 14, 1957) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Early life and education

Born (as Virginia Ettinger) and raised in Orange, California, Phillips received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Riverside, in 1979 and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1982.

Career

Phillips was in private practice in Riverside, California, from 1982 to 1991. She was a Commissioner for the Riverside County Superior Court from 1991 to 1995.

Federal judicial service

In 1995, Phillips became a United States magistrate judge of the Central District of California. On January 26, 1999, Phillips was nominated by President Bill Clinton to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, to a seat vacated by Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 10, 1999, and received her commission on November 15, 1999. Phillips served as chief judge from July 1, 2016 to May 31, 2020. Phillips assumed senior status on February 14, 2022, her 65th birthday.

Notable cases

On September 9, 2010, Phillips ruled that the United States Department of Defense's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is unconstitutional in the case Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America. On October 12, Phillips issued a permanent worldwide injunction ordering the military to immediately "suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding, that may have been commenced" under "don't ask, don't tell". The Ninth Circuit stayed the injunction pending appeal but on July 6, 2011, lifted the stay. On September 29, 2011, the Ninth Circuit vacated the district court's decision, ruling that the legislative repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" had rendered the case moot.

References

1. "Judge in "Don't ask" case: activist or model jurist?". Sign On San Diego. 2010-10-15. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
2. Mark Thompson (2010-10-19). "The Widow Judge Who Ended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"". Time. Archived from the original on October 22, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
3. "Judge Virginia A. Phillips Succeeds Judge George H. King as Chief Judge - Central District of California - United States District Court". www.cacd.uscourts.gov.
4. "Judge Cormac J. Carney Succeeds Judge Virginia A. Phillips as Chief Judge of the Central District of California" (Press release). June 1, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
5. Schwartz, John (September 9, 2010). "Judge Rules That Military Policy Violates Rights of Gays". The New York Times. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
6. Adam Levine (October 12, 2010). "Judge orders military to stop enforcing 'don't ask, don't tell'". CNN. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
7. Pettersson, Edvard (October 12, 2010). "U.S. Military Barred by Judge From Enforcing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Rule". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
8. "Ninth Circuit Order" (PDF).
9. "DADT Repeal: Court Orders Immediate Halt To Gay Military Ban". Huffington Post. July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
10. Levine, Dan (September 29, 2011). "U.S. court vacates ruling on gays in military". Reuters. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
11. "Ninth Circuit opinion" (PDF). September 29, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2011.

Sources

• Butler, Ed (October 2007). "BenchMarks: Virginia A. Phillips" (PDF). San Bernardino County Bar Association. San Bernardino, California: 4–5. Retrieved March 23, 2011.

External links

• Virginia A. Phillips at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Woman In the News | Virginia A. Phillips, A Judge Lauded as No-Nonsense and Scholarly (New York Times, September 10, 2010)
• Judicial Milestones: Virginia Anne Phillips

• 1957 births
• Living people
• Judges of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
• People from Orange, California
• United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton
• United States magistrate judges
• University of California, Riverside alumni
• UC Berkeley School of Law alumni
• 20th-century American judges
• 21st-century American judges
• 20th-century American women judges
• 21st-century American women judges